Tuesday, June 28. 2005

I have mentioned before my belief that the big meat packers are in control of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and run it for their benefit. It looks like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer would agree with that assessment.

The second U.S. case of mad cow disease will do little to change most people's minds about whether they are at risk of dying from the human form of the ailment. But the federal Department of Agriculture's mishandling of the matter ought to worry all of us.

The seven-month delay in word of the infected animal would be simply ridiculous if it were an isolated instance of bureaucratic ineptness. In fact, the delay looks like a prime example of federal officials favoring industry profits over intensive examination of food safety. The positive finding could have been confirmed long ago.

The Bush administration's see-no-evil approach to mad cow is so extreme that it will end up unintentionally hurting dedicated American farmers and ranchers. Taiwan immediately said it was taking steps to reimpose a ban on U.S. beef imports that it had trustingly decided to lift.

Experts say mad cow represents only a very minor health concern. That's reassuring. But the dismal handling of the new case reduces the overall credibility of federal food protection. The federal authorities have shown that, when presented with any health issue, the system's first instinct is likely to be to safeguard economic interests rather than the health of Americans.